Why did New Zealand drop plans to cut off net users?

Wednesday 4 March 2009 19.01 EST
First published on Wednesday 4 March 2009 19.01 EST

Because the law was badly drafted, and internet service providers (ISPs), telecoms companies and copyright holders did not have a voluntary code for its use. That's what John Key, New Zealand's prime minister, said as he told a media conference that plans to introduce a law that would in part oblige ISPs to cut off "repeat copyright infringers" would be delayed until 27 March - and that if rights holders and ISPs couldn't agree on a code of practice, that part of the new law would be suspended indefinitely.

But to online activists, the reason was much simpler: it was because of a campaign that encouraged people to black out their avatars on Facebook, Bebo, Twitter and other social media sites. Brenda Wallace, a developer who was instrumental in the campaign, said the inspiration was "an unsuccessful marketing campaign on Facebook for the NZ rugby team, the All Blacks, that asked people to change their avatars to a silver fern". Wallace suggested a similar strategy to Matthew Holloway, of the artists' lobby group Creative Freedom Foundation (CFF). The campaign started on Monday 16 February, with the aim of lasting a week. Stephen Fry - who had recently been in New Zealand filming his new BBC2 series, Last Chance to See - was asked if he would spread the word about the web blackout. Fry, with more than 250,000 followers on Twitter, agreed, and blacked out his avatar. Many fans followed his example.

The cause was the modernisation of New Zealand's copyright legislation, enacted in November 2008. This included a controversial clause - section 92A - requiring ISPs to implement a "reasonable" policy to disconnect "repeat copyright infringers". It was initially removed by the parliamentary select committee on officials' advice, but then re-inserted by the former New Zealand Labour associate minister of commerce, Judith Tizard, who is the architect of the amended copyright law. However, its loose wording saw it suspended until 28 February, while ISPs and rights holders tried to hammer out a code.

Rights holders such as the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand and the Australasian Performing Rights Association insisted that ISPs' customers they deemed to be infringing copyright three times or more should be disconnected on their notices alone. ISPs didn't agree. Key denied though that the internet campaign had anything to do with the delay of section 92A's implementation. "Until there is a voluntary code in place, it was inappropriate for the section to go ahead," he said.

But Bronwyn Holloway-Smith, director of New Zealand's CFF, thinks the internet did have an effect. "Having Stephen Fry come on board so early on in the campaign was really helpful for drawing mainstream society attention but it was a real community effort with hard work by everyone - and it paid off," she said.

· This article was amended on Thursday March 5 2009. We gave the wrong first name for Ms Holloway-Smith - she is Bronwyn, not Brenda. This has been corrected.